Where the Garden Grows
by Caprica Janeway
Summary: A "what if" story set a week after they would have recieved a cure for the illness they had in 'Resolutions'


**               Where the Garden grows**

            By S.J. 

 _J/C Fanfiction piece started in December 2002._

_Context: A "what if" story set a week after they 'would have' received the cure for the illness they had in 'Resolutions'._

_My first fanfic (Feedback would be welcome: apricot_cherry@hotmail.com)_

_Rating: PG (there is a small bit of violence towards the end, but nothing to harsh.)_

_Comments: Special thanks must go to Spazzo for beta reading for me and for her ongoing encouragement._

**Disclaimer:** I am not making any profit from this story, (I wish though) anyway these characters have been borrowed from Paramount and will be returned unharmed.

PLEASE READ ON

**Chapter 1: At the garden**

She enjoyed the garden now, it was amazing how quickly the plants were growing. It was encouraging, symbolic of something new happening in her own life. Everything was changing, and she never considered her life turning out this way, but nevertheless she was beginning to accept the circumstances she found herself in.

     At that moment her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of approaching footsteps.

 "Have you been out here all day?" he mused.

Motioning down beside her he caught her attention.

"Maybe, why do you ask?" 

"Well I'm just glad to see you've found something to keep you busy, we can't have the captain bored now can we?"

"I guess not"

   As he sat, his position mimicked hers so that their knees nearly touched. She was beginning to play with the soil when she caught sight of his hands straightening a leaning plant. They were strong hands. She knew the battles they had fought in. It struck her that such hands would gently straighten a tomato plant. She became distracted as she contemplated this paradox. It didn't take long before he caught her staring.

  "I can garden too you know, when I was growing up we had to grow all our own vegetables and..." he began to say.

 "Kathryn is something wrong?"

 He looked up to her face she seemed distracted, but her eyes quickly shifted down to the plant closest to her, and she began to speak.

 "I was just thinking...we're alone here Chakotay, I've tried to avoid thinking about that, but we are relying on only each other now, and I'm concerned, are we adequately prepared?"

  He looked at her trying to work out what she was saying.

'Was she actually afraid?, the woman he had seen through so many battles, the one who stood up to them all, this was a side of her he had never seen before. He didn't realize how long he had been staring at her, she began to shift herself away from him.

  "What if one of us were to get sick....I think we need to address this. We both need to consider doing some sort of medical training, just in case".

 "Kathryn I understand...in fact the doctor left us a full medical database as well as lesson plans for the both of us" he said somewhat amused by the idea of the lesson plans that awaited them.

 That made her smile a little, and she turned back to her friend.

 "I want to thank you for distracting me from my concerns, and putting the captain back in her place".

   He smiled at her and was about to say something but stopped, there was a noise coming from the shelter.

  _Beep beep, Beep beep._

Leaving the garden behind they both proceeded to the shelter. The source of the noise was coming from the computer on the table.

 "What is it?" she asked.

 "It seems we have company, there is a starship in a close orbit, in fact it should be over our heads in a few minutes"

 "Anyone we know?"

 "No, nothing I can identify, oh wait it seems they're leaving orbit"

 "That's strange, maybe they'll come back"

 "Do you think we should warn them captain, about the illness? or maybe we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves"

    She looked again at the monitor, but unable to recognize the starship she had just seen she closed it, and looked at the man who was patiently awaiting her response.

 "For now lets just lie low, we don't know if they are friendly or not, and we're not in a situation where we can take chances. If they return we will warn them, but for now let's not give ourselves more trouble then we need. We should continue scanning this region of space we don't need any more unexpected visitors"

 "Sounds good, I'll go and check the shuttle and see if I can widen our search parameters".

-----------------------------

   By evening they had both found that no other starships were close by, and they both sat at the table working on their individual computers.

 "You called me captain"

 "hmm", he looked up from his computer, and looked at her grinning face.

 "You called me captain today, when we picked up that starship in orbit"

 In recognition of the event he smiled a little.

 "Force of habit, I suppose"

 "And I suppose it's an old habit of mine to tell you what to do all the time"

 He stood up and walked to where she was sitting.

 "Well would you prefer it, if it was the other way around?"

 At that comment she smiled and turned to him.

 "Maybe, maybe not"

"hmm, an ambiguous answer, nice save captain"

 "that's Kathryn to you Mr Chakotay"

 He smiled and went back to his work to prepare for tomorrow's little adventure, and hoping she would like his surprise.

**Chapter 2: Watching Her**

The tossing and turning became relentless, this time there was no denying it, she just couldn't sleep, and staring at the chronometer was not helping. Childhood memories of counting sheep came back to her, it never worked then and it sure as hell wasn't going to work tonight. So pushing the covers away she got out of bed and started rummaging through her drawers.

      And there it was, it was truly beautiful. A hand carved inscription of her name and various symbols she could not understand. This was something she had treasured for a long time, but had never had the time to appreciate. It was truly a work of art, if only she could make it sound that way.

   Picking up the instrument, the pad of instructions, and a flashlight, she left the shelter to find a quiet place of refuge to set about her task.

  The instrument named the Ara was a gift from the Tatelya people she had met on a diplomatic mission when she was younger. The Tatelya were a mysterious race of people, they were nomads who would appear at different locations, staying for a few months and always leaving without notice. They were reluctant to form any sort of alliances with the federation, but they were friendly enough, and left her with the instrument as a gift for her friendship to them. The instrument was similar to a flute, but you would play it like a clarinet, it really was a work of art. She admired the carvings for a moment, then drawing in a breath she placed the Ara on her lips and started to play. But her attempts were fruitless, only providing her with a some what uncomfortable noise that caused her to blush a little, and the instructions of how to play a standard flute were of no help to her either. She thought to herself that many of her restless nights would be spent deciphering the mystery of this instrument.

-----------------------

The morning seemed to start earlier than usual, and there seemed to be a lot of movement coming from the living area. Kathryn cautiously opened her eyes, got out of bed and stepped outside to get a closer look.

 "Chakotay, what are you doing this early in the morning?"

 The somewhat dazed captain approached her friend looking at all the various items near his bag.

 "I'm packing"

 "Am I really that difficult to live with?" she said shooting him a half awake grin.

 "No, in fact we are both going on a trip"

 "This early?" she yawned.

 "No, but soon, I'm sorry if I woke you up"

 "Never mind, anyway what's this about a trip?"

 "Well now that you're somewhat awake, I have a surprise for you".

    The last comment got her attention, he was always doing nice things for her, and a smile came to her face in eager anticipation of what this surprise would entail.

 "Do you want me to close my eyes this time, or are you going to blindfold me again?"

  He remembered the look on her face when he did the same as he presented a new bathtub to her.

 "That might help, and if I can take your hand?"

She gave him her hand and closed her eyes, and he leaded her outside where her surprise was waiting for her.

 "Alright you can open your eyes now"

 She looked before her and smiled. There in front of her was the boat he had designed a week earlier. How he had built it so quickly she didn't understand, but she was nevertheless amazed at it now standing before her.

 "It's beautiful, I can't believe you made it so quickly and without me knowing"

 She couldn't get the smile off her face, it was just beautiful, just like the design she had seen a week earlier.

 "So we are taking the boat and going on a trip this morning"  
 "that's the plan, I have a tent and most of the supplies we need, I just need your bag when your ready and we can go and have our first holiday since we got here"

She looked at the boat, then she looked at him. "Well I guess I better pack then".

-------------------------------

It was nine o'clock and they were ready to go. Before hoping in the boat she looked around, and asked "Um Chakotay do you have some sort of travel plan or are we just going to float around until we decide to stop?"

 "Don't worry I have it all figured out just relax and let me do the worrying for once".

She took his hand reassuringly, "I do trust you, just don't sink the ship"

"I promise captain, I won't sink the ship".

   So she climbed aboard and he started to row away from the shore.

"You called me captain again!"

"Sorry"

-------------------------

The wind was gentle and she was starting to relax in the boat, it was moments like these that he was able to admire her; to take the time out when she wouldn't notice and just look at her. He knew that she felt uncomfortable, or even self-conscious when he noticed her, so he tried hard not to be as noticeable this time but it was difficult. His affection for her only grew with the passing days. There was something about her that he was trying to figure out. It seemed that everyday he was learning more about the woman who was captain for a time, and in some ways would always be one. But this woman was something else she was wise, adventurous, ambitious, and downright charming, and he knew it only too well.

    He looked at her again. Her eyes were half open, gazing over the boat watching the water pass. She was completely relaxed, and completely beautiful, if only he could relax.

 "We are going to be there soon"

 "hmm" she said

 "Just around the corner is where we are going to camp for the night, are you alright?"

"Fine, I just realized how relaxed I've become"

"Well that's what the trip's for, as soon as we get back we need to be stress free to focus on the medical studies the doctor left for us"

"Ahh yes, the doctor, I wonder what everyone is up to on my ship...well my former ship that is"

   She became distracted, he had seen her like this before when she would have moments of realisation that they would never see the crew again. A mixture of sadness and wonder on her face, and then she would pull away again and snap herself back into reality.

 "I'm sure they are doing fine" he said, as he placed his hand over her own to reassure her. She in return looked from the water to him, tried to smile a little, and tapped his hand.

 "Well I hope you know how to park this thing", she said referring to the boat's impending arrival to shore.

 Chakotay moved around picking up the rope he would use to tie the boat to shore. He gently rowed the boat in, and stepping out he tied the boat securely to the closest tree.

 "Well we're here, let's set up the camp and explore the area"

 "Aye aye captain".

------------------------------

He stood back and admired his work for a moment, it had been a while but he had managed to put up the tent with little effort. And she, well she went to explore, as always, and he began to set up the other equipment.

 "Well I see you didn't need my need my help after all".

She was carrying something he couldn't quite see, but whatever she was up to she must have been enjoying herself, because she was smiling.

"Well what do you think? seeing as your our avid camping expert" he asked her showing her the tent he had just  erected.

  She laughed a little and inspected the area. Walking up to him in her famous captains' stride, she tilted her head slightly towards him,

  "You're really enjoying this aren't you? you must be finding this amusing trying to figure out how I might have been when I wasn't the captain?"

 "I suppose, but you've got to admit that our being here has made the way in which we relate to each other different then what we previously experienced" He smiled to himself. Looking at the ground to avoid eye contact with her, he began kicking the dirt near his feet. "…Which does make for interesting discoveries along the way" he said softly.

 "Is that so?" she said snapping his attention back to her face. "What if you find out I'm quite boring? you may decide to move in with our monkey friend, and force me out to my own little habitat"

   He considered this for a moment, and moved closer to her "Hmm, that would be highly unlikely.....and besides you smell alot better than that monkey".

 Giving him a smile in return for his complement, and promise that she would not have to find her own place to live, she went inside the tent to put away the Ara which she had been carrying. She was glad that she had begun to start playing the instrument again. She thought to herself of all the time she was putting so many things on hold in her life because of her duty to her crew. Now things had changed, now there were no more excuses. 

-----------------------------------

 It was late afternoon, and while Chakotay was preparing dinner by the fire, Kathryn was busying herself with something in the tent.

 "Chakotay have you seen my back pack? the green one?"

Chakotay lifted back the flap of the tent looking at Kathryn who was trying to find her bag.

"I think you left it in the boat"

"thanks"

"how long do you think dinner will be?" she asked as she lifted her bag out of the boat.

 "15 minutes.....why do you ask?"

 She must have not heard him because she was rearranging her pack and seemed to be concentrating on the task at hand.

 "Kathryn?" he asked moving beside her.

She looked up at him and grinned mischievously.

"Well since you couldn't manage to transport the bath down the river with us on this little trip of yours, I have decided to make the most of the river we have, and take a bath. I'm just hoping it's not too cold".

 Chakotay was trying to suppress a grin, 'this is going to be interesting' he thought to himself.

   Kathryn picked up her belongings and headed back to the tent. When she eventually came out from the tent she was dressed in a white robe, and was carrying a towel and a small bag.

 "Chakotay I need one of the tricorders, I don't want to be bathing where there are going to be interesting wildlife around"

  He handed her the tricorder,

 "Don't go to far away, I need to be able to hear you just in case you get any unexpected visitors"

She turned back to him, and pointing in the direction she was heading, she assured him she wouldn't be too far away.

  Just a few meters from where they had set up camp, Kathryn found a quiet private location where she felt sure that no strange animals were around.

 She took off her robe and placed it along with her towel on a nearby branch, and stepping out of her shoes, she stepped into the water. She let a sigh escape from her mouth, the water was just right, and the sun was very low in the sky, it was just perfect. She started to bathe herself when she thought it strange that her mind began to wander, she began to think about her companion waiting on the shore, what he was doing and thinking.

'Oh well there is only one way to find out' she thought to herself, and so she began to swim over into the deeper water to cover herself, and she found a spot where she could see him but he could not see her.

 And there he was busily preparing dinner for her and himself.

'How strange' she thought to herself. There was this man who was doing everything for her, going out of his way to make her life comfortable. 'When did this all start?' she began to ask herself. Was this just part of the loyalty he had always had towards her from the beginning of the journey, she thought. As she reflected a little more, she realized, no there is something more now.'

'When did he begin to care?' she asked herself, 'And why didn't I notice this before?'

 Chakotay could hear her splashing in the water, and they made eye contact. For a while they both just stared at each other, trying to read each others' thoughts. And he was smiling at her, and stirring his pot as he did so, and then he must have lost his concentration, as the soup started to boil over, and burnt him on the hand.

"Owwh" he yelled, shaking his hand as he did so.

Kathryn began to swim back to shore where she had left her robe and quickly went to his side.

 "Are you alright?" she asked trying to see his hand, and trying to hold back the laughter at his obvious loss of concentration.

He laughed a little, commenting on the fact that something, or someone must have distracted him. Kathryn feeling a little embarrassed bowed her head slightly, smiling to herself.

 "Well, I guess I better get changed, I'm looking forward to dinner" .Then she took another look at the pot, "well what's left of it".

He watched her as she left, knowing she felt embarrassed, and uncomfortable at mentioning the whole incident.

  _But he wasn't the only one watching her, behind the growth of the forest a younger man stood, tall and dark, with obvious alien characteristics. He recorded various information he had collected from watching, and then deciding he had enough information, he informed his crewmen aboard the ship waiting for him, and transported out of sight._

----------------------------------

Dinner was quiet, there was the odd comment or two about what was planned for tomorrow's little adventure, and comments about how good dinner tasted, but apart from that it was a quiet night.

 "Well Kathryn I don't know about you, but I'm going to turn in for the night, I have a feeling I'm going to need my strength tomorrow"

"Yes, I think your right, I'm a bit tired myself, I think I'll join you"

He looked directly at her at that last comment, but put the thought aside.

 "I mean I think we have a long..."

He interrupted her, and tapped her hand.

 "Don't worry I know what you mean".

This situation was different though, this was the first time, where they would be sleeping in the same confined space, and being able to stare at each other as they went to sleep.

  He moved first, moving his things to the side, he got himself comfortable in his sleeping bag. Once they both were settled in their separate sleeping bags the silence became deafening.

 "Are you comfortable enough?" he asked her.

 "Oh, me I'm fine, I'd almost forgotten what it was like to go camping"

"Bad memories from childhood?" he asked.

 "No, it's not that, I was thinking about the last time I did this, it would have been a few years ago. I was with a good friend.....a very good friend. We were camping where he grew up, and he was telling me stories of how he and his family survived during the problems they were having with the Cardassians. I never realized how good I had it at home till I met him. He actually rescued me from one of their prisons.

 "You were in one of their prisons?"

 "Yes, myself and Admiral Paris, they caught us spying on them"

"Well, I would have never guessed, where were you when I was recruiting crew members for the Maquis?"

 She laughed a little that he would think such a thing.

"Now that would have been strange, I would have had you for a C.O."

"hmm, that would have been interesting...but anyway were you and this friend of yours close?"

"you could say that, we were engaged"

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

She swallowed hard, and began to stiffen her composure, it was all of a sudden becoming uncomfortable.

 "He died, with my father, we were on a ship, then it crashed, and they both drowned"

Chakotay sat up he didn't mean to bring up memories like that for her, he was just curious, and now he could see the pain of that loss in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked"

"No, no don't be concerned, we all have had pain in our lives, and it's good that we share our stories with each other, we need each other's strength"

 He nodded in agreement, and reached his hand over to her, and brushed back a tear that was lingering on her face.

 "I'm sorry for your loss Kathryn"

She was touched by his concern, and also a little unsure of herself while his hand still lay on her cheek.

 "Thank you", she managed to say.

She leaned back on her pillow, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and she fell asleep.

  At that moment, he had to turn around, he was overwhelmed that she had opened up so much to him. They had both lost so much. He thought to himself how much he wanted to make up to her for everything she had lost. Then he turned back around to face her, and decided that he would go to sleep just watching her.

**                                 Chapter 3: Moments Come and Gone**

She awoke to find him already gone that morning. In a way she was hoping she would wake in time to see him sleeping, as she had fallen asleep first.

   He was at the river where she had been last night, so she began to prepare breakfast. It was not long before he returned, and they began planning their morning...

 "We are going to be doing alot of walking today so we better bring plenty of food and water.....are you up for the challenge Chakotay?"

He smiled to himself, 'would he be able to outlast the unstoppable Janeway?'

"I think I am, but are you?"

"Never underestimate a Janeway, we are always up for a challenge"

At this point they weren't taking each other seriously, and began joking with each other. He could tell she was enjoying herself, she even seemed excited about exploring the area, but then that was typical of her, she was a born explorer.

By this time they were both ready for their walk, they both picked up their backpacks and began to set off.

 "You know, we have a whole world here to explore and catalogue, we can name everything, a whole planet for ourselves" she said excitedly.

"Just like Adam and Eve" he said.

"I never thought about it that way but I can see how that would be similar"

He leaned in a bit closer this time,

"Except we have clothes"

She looked at him in *the that was a very risky thing to say, but you got away with it* look, and looked him down and said,

 "Ahh, well that's the wonder's of modern technology for you"

She got a small smile out of him, and she continued to walk ahead of him. Now she was beginning to pick up her pace, she walked so quickly away from him that he had to start running to catch up with her. But somehow he had lost her in the woods.

 "Kathryn, where are you?", he called her but heard no reply.

"Kathryn! Kathryn, where are you?"

But this time he heard a rustling in a nearby tree, and he went to investigate.

 "Chakotay, I'm up here, in the tree.....you should really see the view from here"

He looked up the tree somewhat amused by the whole situation.

"Um, what are you doing?" he asked.

She looked down at him, and suddenly had to think of a reason as to why she was up the tree.

"I just felt like climbing a tree, I haven't climbed a tree in a while, I needed to know if I could still do it"

  She was still looking at him, and he was smiling at her.

"What is it that you are smiling about?"

"You...I learn something new about you everyday. I wonder do you put on your resume as part of your skills the ability to runaway from someone, and climb up a tree, without them knowing it?"

"No, but remind me to add it. Now can you help me down from this tree? getting up one of these things is one thing, but getting down is a whole other matter entirely"

"Alright, just be careful"

He moved closer to the tree, and she manoeuvred down slowly, but as she got to the last branch her foot gave way, and her fall was only stopped by Chakotay who was standing by. He caught her in both arms, and she regained her footing. For a moment they just stared at each other, each trying to catch their breath from the fall.

"Thank you, ah, for catching me"

"No problem"

He still held onto her, and searching her face with his hand he nestled it on the back of her neck, feeding his fingers through her hair which had come loose from the fall.

 "Are you alright?" he asked.

She seemed a little shaken, but she slowly nodded not taking her eyes off him.

 "I'm...I'm fine"

 "good"

At this point her eyes began to follow him as he motioned closer to her in their already close proximity. He leaned down a little, tilting his head to the side, and he captured her face with his other hand, and he began to kiss her. It was a sweet kiss, a slow kiss that lasted for a time. While she regained her sense of what was occurring, she lent towards him more so, placing her hand at the side of his face, and continued the same sweet slow kissing.

 It seemed to last a while at this speed, slowly they became comfortable with each other, slowly they became comfortable with their feelings, and slowly it became natural. So the kissing became more passionate, and more liberating. Liberating them from fears they both shared, in this moment they escaped those fears.

   Suddenly there was a loud screech and a shaking of nearby branches, and the couple broke apart. Looking towards the origin of the noise directly opposite them, they noticed their friend the monkey causing quite a commotion on a nearby tree.

  "We really have to teach that monkey something about timing" Chakotay said, trying to interrupt the awkward moment.

 "I wonder what he could be so concerned about, you don't think it's another one of those plasma storms, do you?" she asked looking concerned at their lack of protective shelter.

 "I don't know, maybe we should head back to camp"

They agreed and once again put their packs on and headed off. But this time Chakotay grabbed her hand, and headed off in the direction of the camp, as if it was the most natural thing to do in that situation. And she blindly accepted his hand, and him guiding her back to camp.

  The monkey seemed to be following them, from tree to tree he swung, trying to gain momentum to catch up with them. They were walking quickly back to the campsite, but on the way noticed no change in the sky. But as the last storm hit so quickly, and without warning, they decided it would be better to keep on heading back to the site.

  On arrival at the campsite they became acutely aware that their monkey friend was not trying to warn them of an approaching storm, but of the arrival of some uninvited guests.

  They both stood there looking at each other in shock.

"Who are you? what are you doing here?" Kathryn asked the men who stood before her.

"Enough talk"

 A tall dark looking man stood before the couple, he looked similar to a human except for the small ridges above both eyebrows. He looked first to Chakotay assessing the man's appearance, and then he looked at Kathryn. He looked her over and she began to feel uncomfortable.

 "I'm Kathryn, and this is Chakotay, what is it that you want here?" she asked the man, snapping his attention back to her face.

  At this point he grabbed her by the shoulder, and held a weapon towards Chakotay to keep him back.

  "You're coming with me" he said to Kathryn.

Although she struggled, she became acutely aware that her attempts were futile. Chakotay tried swinging at the man pointing the weapon at him, but there were to many of them, and they all transported off the surface, leaving only Chakotay to contemplate what had just happened.

---------------------------------

"Where am I? I can't leave this planet, I have an illness"

"You will be quiet, until you are asked to speak"

And to show proof of this he struck her across the face.

"What are you doing on the planet?" he asked her. Again to prove to her the seriousness of the situation he picked her up and slammed her against the hull of the ship.

 "Please.." she managed to say, "..we were forced to stay here because of a fatal illness we contracted from an insect bite. We have to stay on the planet because the planet's atmosphere is protecting us"

"You shouldn't be here! You've caused more trouble than you know!"

But before he could get any further with his interrogation, the ship began to rock violently.

 _"Sir, it's the Natandra group" said a voice over the ship._

"I'm on my way" the man replied.

And before leaving he ordered two guards to escort her to her room. In that room she was left with only the realisation that if she was on this ship much longer, she would die. So she set her mind running for an escape plan.

-------------------------

 He was angry, no he was more than angry, he was afraid; afraid for her life, for what they might do to her, or what would eventually occur if she was off the planet too long. It was here that he noticed something stuck between the blades of grass at his feet. It was the ribbon she had been wearing in her hair. It had become loose in her hair since the fall, and now it was left on the ground. The delicate blue ribbon was all he had left of her, and the memories of the day. Picking it up he clutched it tightly, as if by doing so it would bring her back to him.

  Leaving behind the campsite, he headed back to the shelter on foot, and he resolved to go to the shuttlecraft, and begin scanning the area to find her.

 He trudged through the woods, and his thoughts drifted to those moments come and gone. One moment he caught her, another he held her, then he kissed her, and then he lost her.

 'Why had I come so close to her, only for her to be taken away' he thought to himself.

**Note:** Well I hoped you've enjoyed the story so far. The rest will be posted, as soon as it is humanly possible for me to finish. Thanks again, feedback is welcome: apricot_cherry@hotmail.com


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